Anyone who has driven north on Interstate 5 has likely seen the huge chimney of the Encina Power Station in Carlsbad, on the edge of a coastal lagoon.
The company that owns the plant, NRG Energy, wants to build a new, air-cooled, gas- and steam-powered turbine right next to it.
Kristina Ray, with the City of Carlsbad, says there are better places to put it.
“Why would you want to put an air cooled power plant on the coast,” she asked,“ when these more modern power plants can be built in other, more appropriate industrial locations?”
Ray said the city has alternative locations for a new power plant, though she was unsure how the land would be acquired. The land the Encino power plant sits on, which overlooks the ocean, belongs to the power company. However, the city has changed its zoning laws to make a power plant an incompatible use.
Paul Kramer with the Energy Commission said the energy supply is changing and there are new questions to consider before allowing the project to go ahead. SDG &E has made no contract to use the energy from the new plant in San Diego, and the electricity would likely be used elsewhere.
“There’s been a lot of controversy about whether this project is needed to make the electrical system work properly and be reliable.” Kramer said, “And the committee proposed some conditions that would require this project to plan for the removal of the old project."
Kramer said when the old Encina plant was built, there were no state laws requiring the company to tear it down when it was outdated. One condition of building a new plant might be to start removing the old one.
The commission will hear from energy providers and regulators today, and get the public’s perspective this evening.
A final decision, which has has been years in the making, is expected sometime next year.
